Optocouplers convert optical signals into electrical signals and vice versa. Optocoupler arrangements have been proposed which include an optoelectronic module that comprises a circuit carrier, which can be divided into a first region and a second region, the first and second regions being connected together via a flexible interconnection film. Such an optocoupler has the disadvantage that the two regions of the circuit carrier need to be bent at an angle to one another via the flexible interconnection film and are to be mutually aligned and fixed in this angled-off state, which represents a problem due to the unsupported flexible interconnection film particularly because the bent or angled-off region is freely accessible and therefore exposed to an increased risk of damage.
Another optomodule comprises a carrier substrate, wiring means, contact means and an optosemiconductor for transmitting and receiving light. To this end the optomodule comprises a circuit board section, which carries the optosemiconductor and is connected to a module circuit board via a flexiconductor section, a plurality of external components being mounted on the module circuit board. This structure of an optocoupler or optomodule also has the disadvantage that the flexible circuit board section, which connects the circuit board with the optosemiconductor and the module circuit board with a plurality of external components, is exposed, with virtually no protection to risks of damage. The known optoelectronic modules furthermore have the disadvantage that they cannot be arbitrarily minimized, so that further miniaturization is not available for such optocouplers.
Optically based data transmission over short transmission distances from circuit board to circuit board is thus carried out according to the known devices either by means of POF (plastic optical fiber) for smaller data rates or via parallel transmission for high data rates. Owing to their size, however, the designs employed are unsuitable for use in spatially limited applications, for example in mobile telephones or digital cameras. There are therefore not yet any optical data transmission solutions for products with very space-critical design. Existing optical solutions frequently comprise expensive and complicated free beam optics, for example with deviating prisms and other optical components, which entail a large space requirement. Such free beam optics are not usable for cost effective applications in products with a spatial installation limitation, such as in mobile telephones or digital cameras.
Currently, microcoaxial lines with electrical jacks are often used in order to establish a connection between two circuit boards. Individual coaxial lines are often to be mounted manually in this case, which is cost intensive and onerous. Owing to the size of these individual coaxial lines, a common jack with parallel lines cannot be mounted until after the coaxial line has been fed through a hinge-like adaptor between the circuit boards. Yet since the space available for such assembly in space-critical applications is extremely small, the number of connections is limited, and the data rate for transmission via coaxial cable is also extremely small.